Photo: NCDOTcommunications · CC BY 2.0Wilmington has 1.8 jobs for every working resident: 61,031 people commute in to work
Jobs & income C+: better than 43% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #149 of 290 in North Carolina.
Walkability A: more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns · #11 of 290 in North Carolina.
Household incomes here are lower than in 63% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 19 minutes each way (North Carolina 25, U.S. 26). About half work in Wilmington; the top destination outside it is Raleigh (3%, 120 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.0 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.3 in Charlotte (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Wilmington
Wilmington is where the jobs are
Wilmington has 84,688 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Wilmington are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 25 across North Carolina. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical North Carolina worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Wilmington’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wilmington is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #149 of 290 in North Carolina. Job access by car holds Wilmington’s grade up (ahead of 71% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wilmington could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Wilmington fills up on a workday
On a workday 24,479 residents head out to work, 23,657 work right here, and 61,031 people come in from elsewhere.
About 163,000 people are in Wilmington on a workday afternoon, 29% more than live here.
1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of North Carolina
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wilmington workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 52,075 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Where Wilmington’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Wilmington clocks in
3% of workers
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 84,688 jobs in Wilmington are
84,688 jobs are based in Wilmington. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wilmington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wilmington, 2013 → 2023: 68,592 → 84,688. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Half of Wilmington commutes less than 6 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 25% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Wilmington is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wilmington is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #11 of 290 in North Carolina. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 64,446 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 68% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.2% of Wilmington households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Wilmington’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Wilmington is 222nd of 314 U.S. towns of 89,000 to 171,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Wilmington, the top three, the last and three more from North Carolina.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Franklin TN | 90,226 | $120K | 4.6% | 2.2% | 31% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 156 | Concord NC | 114,598 | $87K | 9.6% | 5.5% | 19% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 216 | Asheville NC | 93,523 | $71K | 14.3% | 5.1% | 52% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 220 | Fort Myers FL | 101,581 | $64K | 16.3% | 4.2% | 25% | C+ |
| 221 | El Monte CA | 105,075 | $68K | 17.4% | 6.3% | 9% | C+ |
| 222 | Wilmington NC | 126,809 | $67K | 16.0% | 4.3% | 49% | C+ |
| 223 | Hampton VA | 137,315 | $70K | 12.7% | 6.3% | 25% | C+ |
| 224 | East Los Angeles CA | 111,647 | $69K | 17.3% | 6.8% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 227 | High Point NC | 120,571 | $65K | 15.7% | 5.2% | 23% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 314 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | D |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Wilmington and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Murraysville (3%). Darker towns draw more of Wilmington’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wilmington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmington | – | C+ | A | 19 min | $66,738 |
| Hightsville | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Silver Lake | under 2% | B− | B | 24 min | $76,756 |
| Wrightsboro | under 2% | B | C+ | 22 min | $78,450 |
| Kings Grant | 2% | B− | B− | 23 min | $62,232 |
| Ogden | under 2% | A | C− | 28 min | $121,338 |
| Murraysville | 3% | B | C+ | 23 min | $81,167 |
| Myrtle Grove | 1% | A− | C+ | 20 min | $113,463 |
Same-state neighbors only. Hightsville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Wilmington: questions
What is the median household income in Wilmington?
$66,738 (±$2,914) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wilmington?
16.0%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wilmington?
19 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wilmington work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Raleigh (3%, 120 mi), Murraysville (3%, 6 mi), Charlotte (3%, 181 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wilmington walkable?
Wilmington is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wilmington without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wilmington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wilmington
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.